Three-way convertible cooler



F f Sept. 3, 1968 J. D. WALLACE 3,399,933

I THREE-WAY CONVERTIBLE COOLER I Filed Feb. 6, 1967 IS Sheets-Sheet 1 5 E (9' r E INVEATOR? JOSEPH D. WALLACE ATT Y5 Sept. 3, 1968 J. D. WALLACE THREE-WAY CONVERTIBLE COOLER Filed Feb. 6,

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IN VEN TOR JOSEPH D. WALLACE ATT'YS P 3, 1968 J. D. WALLACE 3,399,938

THREE-WAY CONVERTIBLE COOLER Filed Feb. 6, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR- JOSEPH D. WALLACE sv:fiagv1z gwq gallo1 a ymagdaltw United States Patent 3,399,938 THREE-WAY CONVERTIBLE COOLER Joseph D. Wallace, Wichita, Kans., assiguor to The Coleman Company, Inc., Wichita, Kans., a corporation of Kansas Filed Feb. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 614,284 Claims. (Cl. 312--214) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A three-way convertible cooler including elongated shelves or ledges extending along opposite internal Walls of the cooler box and parallel to the plane of the arc in which a hinged door swings. The ledges provide support for suspending an ice tub in the upper part of the cooler in either an upright or inverted position for set up as a rightor left-hand opening door. The ledges terminate short of the door thereby defining a third transverse position for receiving and suspending the ice tub whereby the cooler may be set up as a chest. A swivel plate is provided on the outside of the door for assuming positions indicative of how the cooler has been set up.

Background Coolers are known which are designed as upright coolers for storage or transportation particularly in station wagons, wherein the cooler may be taller than it is wide or deep, and yet, conveniently set upright within a station wagon. Usually such upright coolers have hinged or swinging front doors for opening. Coolers are also known of the chest type, that is, coolers which open at the top. Chest coolers may or may not have hinged doors.

Such coolers are usually provided with an ice tub or chest Within the cooler for storing ice. The chest is usually provided with a removable top and a faucet at the bottom for draining liquid from the ice tub.

In order that the ice and liquid not be inadvertently spilled from the ice tub, it is required that the tub be supported in an upright position at all times. Further, in order to obtain sufficient circulation of air within the cooler about the ice tub, it is required that the tub be suspended within the cooler to allow some clearance between the walls of the ice tub and the sides of the cooler for air movement.

It will be appreciated that in the case of upright coolers, which conventionally may be transported and used in a station wagon or the like, that the door must open laterally, and therefore it is usually hinged for swinging in a horizontal arc. Hence, the instant cooler, which is designed to be converted to either a chest cooler or an upright cooler, has a hinged door; and since the door is flush with the sides of the cooler, a problem arises in providing means for carrying the cooler in either of the upright positions or as a chest.

Summary The present invention relates to coolers; and more particularly, to a cooler which is readily convertible either as an upright cooler with a right-hand opening door, an upright cooler with a left-hand opening door, or a chest cooler.

Ledges are provided for suspending the ice tub within the cooler and allowing adequate circulation of air in either of two inverted positions or in a transverse position for maintaining the ice tub in an upright placement thereby preventing tilting of the ice tub and spilling of its contents. An indicator plate is provided on the door of the cooler for indicating without opening the door, whether the cooler has been set up as a chest, or as a right-hand opening cooler, or a left-hand opening cooler. In addiice tion, rods are attached to the top and bottom of the cooler which serve interchangeably as supports and handles in the two upright positions and as handles in the topopening position.

Other advantages and features of the present invention will be obvious to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a specific embodiment accompanied by the attached drawing in which like reference numerals indicate identical parts in the various views.

The drawing FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a cooler according to the present invention in an upright, right-hand openmg position;

FIG. 2 is an abbreviated section view of the front door of the cooler taken through the sight line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the swivel plate indicator for displaying which placement the tub takes in the cooler;

FIG. 4 shows the same view of the cooler as FIG. 1 but with the front door removed;

FIG. 5 is a partially cut-away right side elevational view of the cooler of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows the cooler of FIG. 1 set up as an upright cooler with a left-hand opening door; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective View of the cooler of FIG. 1 illustrating how it may be set up as a chest.

Description Referring then to the drawing, in FIG. 1 is shown a generally box-shaped cooler having a front door 10, four sides 10a-10d, and a back 10c. The door is flush with the sides of the cooler and hinged to the side 10b by hinges 11 and 12. A handle 13 is attached to the left side of the door 10 for opening and closing it.

A swivel plate, generally designated as 14 and discussed in more detail below, is rotatably mounted on the exterior of front door 10. It is shown in FIG. 1 in a position for displaying that the cooler has been set up as an upright cooler with a right-hand opening door. In other words, with the indicia on the swivel plate 14 in proper orientation for reading, an observer has a ready indication of which orientation the ice tub takes within the cooler.

Internally, the cooler is provided with a set of ledges or tracks 15 (see FIG. 3) on the inside of the side 10d. The ledges 15 lie parallel to the plane in which the door 10 is swung for opening, and they extend from the back 10e to a point short of the door 10 (see FIG. 5) for reasons set out below. A corresponding set of ledges 16 are provided on the inside of the cooler side 10b. The ledges 15 and 16 have a transverse cross section which is generally rectangular thereby defining upper and lower supporting surfaces for receiving an ice tub and storage or drip trays.

As best seen in FIG. 4, an ice tub 17 has an upper peripheral flange 18 for engaging the top surface of a corresponding set of the ledges 15 and 16 which then support the ice tub 17 and suspend it within the cooler in a position suflicient to allow free circulation of air.

The ice tu-b 17 is equipped with a faucet 19 for draining liquid contents therefrom, and a top 20 which sets on the upper side of the peripheral flange 18 and serves as a cover for the contents of the ice tub.

In FIG. 6 the cooler is shown inverted with respect to the position in which it is illustrated in FIG. 1. It will be noticed that the door 10 is hinged at the left, and therefore, the cooler is set up with a left-hand opening door. In this position, the ice tub 17 rests on the upper surface of the uppermost of the ledges 15 and 16, and sufficient room is also provided for the free circulation of air about the tub.

As can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the door 10 is fastened to the side 10d of the cooler by means of a conventional window latch, designated generally in the drawing as 21.

As will be appreciated from a consideration of FIGS. 5 and 7, the ledges 15 and 16 terminate short of the door in transverse surfaces designated a and 16a respectively. These surfaces are support surfaces, and they are spaced from the door 10 such that when the cooler is set up as a chest, the peripheral flange 18 of the ice tub 17 may be rested on them and still provide adequate air circulation about the top 20 of the tub (see FIG. 7).

The cooler is provided with four rods or handles, two of which are attached to the side 10a and identified as 24 and 25 in FIG. 5. The other two, identified as 26 and 27, are attached to side 100. The rods 24-27 act interchangeably as supports or handles when the cooler is set up in an upright position, either as a left-hand opening or a right-hand opening cooler. As shown in FIG. 5 as a right-hand opening cooler, the rods 24 and 25 are handles and the rods 26 and 27 are supports. The other upright position is illustrated in FIG. 6 and the functions of the rods are reversed. As can be seen from FIG. 7, wherein the cooler is set up as a chest, the rods 25 and 27 serve as handles. In this case, since the door 10 is flush with the sides of the cooler, handles are advantageously provided by the rods 25 and 27 attached to the cooler body adjacent the door 10 and inclined toward the door for convenience (see particularly FIG. 5).

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, a preferred indicator will be described for displaying whether the cooler has been set up as a chest, a right-hand opening upright cooler, or a left-hand opening upright cooler. As shown in the drawing, a swivel plate 28 is rotatably attached to the outer surface of door 10 by means of a center rod or pin 29 extending through a suitable aperture 29a in the door 10. A retaining ring 30 is screwed onto the rod 29, and it has a curved part 29a bearing against the inside of the front panel of the door 10 to provide a resilient mount for the swivel plate 28.

Four nubs or hemispherical nodes are formed in the outer surface of the door 10 and placed in quadrature at the corners of an imaginary square centered about the axis of rotation of the swivel plate 28. Two of the nodes are indicated in FIG. 2 as 31 and 32, but it is noted that two similar nodes which are not known, are formed transverse of the line defined by the nodes 31 and 32. The swivel plate 28 has formed in it four concave depressions or dents 33, 34, 35 and 36.

The dents 33-36 are equally spaced from the center of the stud 29 for receiving the nodes on the door 10, and dents and nodes cooperate to hold the indicia-bearing swivel plate 28 in one of four perpendicular positions. That is, when the nodes register with the dents, the retaining spring 30 urges the swivel plate 28 against the door 10; and, hence, the swivel plate 28 is held in one of the four predetermined positions defined by the nodes and their associated dents.

An indicia plate 37 is attached to the 'swivel plate 28. The indicia plate 37 bears some symbol or writing serving to establish directionality. When the indicia on the plate 37 is in an upright position, it displays that the cooler has been set up in a corresponding position. In other words, when the indicia is as shown in FIG. 1, wherein it may be read as shown, the cooler has been set up as a righthand opening upright cooler. When the indicia is as shown in FIG. 6, the cooler has been set up as a left-hand opening upright cooler. Similarly, when the indicia establishes a line of directionality transverse of the direction of elongation of the cooler, it indicates that the cooler has been set up as a chest, as is shown in FIG. 7.

While one specific embodiment has been illustrated for purposes of explaining the principle of my invention, it is to be understood that similar structure may be substituted for that which has been shown while continuing to practice my invention; and it is therefore intended that all such modifications and substitutions be covered as they are embraced within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a generally box-shaped cooler having a door, four sides and a back, the improvement comprising: an ice tub for placement within said cooler; and means attached to the interior of said cooler sides for suspending said ice tub in a first position within said cooler to provide clearance for air circulation about said tub, said suspension means further defining support surfaces for suspending said tub transverse of said first position whereby said cooler may be set up as an upright cooler or as a chest. I

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said door is hinged to one of said cooler sides for pivotal opening motion, a first of said support surfaces being parallel to the plane in which said door swings, and wherein said support means further defines a support plane for supporting said tub in an upright position when said cooler is inverted thereby allowing a third position whereby said chest may be set up with a left-hand or right-hand opening door or as a chest.

3. The structure of claim 1 further comprising indicator means attached to the exterior of said cooler for assuming predetermined positions for indicating whether said cooler has been set up as an upright cooler or as a chest.

4. The structure of claim 2 further comprising settable indicator means attached to the exterior of said cooler for assuming predetermined positions for indicating from which of said support surfaces said tub is suspended.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein said tub includes a peripheral flange and said support means comprises corresponding sets of ledges fixed internally on opposite sides of said cooler and terminating short of said door, corresponding ledges defining first surfaces for supporting said tub peripheral flange whereby said tub may be suspended upright in a right-hand opening cooler, second surfaces parallel to said first surfaces for supporting said tub peripheral flanges whereby said tub may be suspended upright in a left-hand opening cooler, and terminating portions of said ledges transverse of said first and second surfaces for supporting said tub peripheral flange whereby said tub may be suspended in a top-opening cooler.

6. The structure of claim 1 wherein said cooler includes top and bottom sides parallel to the plane in which said door opens, further comprising first and second rods attached to said cooler top, said first rod being parallel to and adjacent said door, and third and fourth rods attached to said bottom, said third rod being parallel to and adjacent said door, said first and second rods and said third and fourth rods acting interchangeably as legs and handles when said cooler is set up as an upright cooler, said first and third rods acting as handles when said cooler is set up as a chest.

7. The structure of claim 4 wherein said indicator means comprises a swivel plate rotatably mounted on said cooler door, and means engaging said plate for releasably holding it in predetermined indicating positions.

8. The structure of claim 7 wherein said indicator means further comprises four nodes in said cooler door located in quadrature about the axis of rotation of said swivel plate, four dents in said swivel plate matching said nodes, and spring means for urging said swivel plate against said door whereby when said nodes are in register with said dents, said swivel plate is forced by said spring means closer to said door and releasably held.

9. The structure of claim 1 wherein said ice tub includes a removable top and a faucet near the bottom thereof.

10. In a generally box-shaped cooler having a hinged door, four sides and a back, a first set of spaced ledges attached to the interior of a first side from which said door is hinged, said ledges extending perpendicular to the plane of said door when it is closed and terminating short of said door, a second set of spaced ledges attached to the interior of the side opposite said first side and terminating short of said door, an ice tub for placement within said cooler and including an upper peripheral flange, said ice tub having a removable top received thereon above said flange and a faucet near the bottom of a side thereof, said ledges cooperating to define a first surface for supporting said flange on its underside wherein said cooler has a right-hand opening door, a second surface for supporting said flange underside wherein said cooler has a left-hand opening door, and a third surface at the terminating segments of said ledges for supporting said flange underside wherein said cooler has a top-opening door, and combination handle and leg means attached to the exteriors of the other two opposite sides of said cooler.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,083,852 6/1937 McClanahan 312-214 X 2,393,305 7/1959 Ferguson 312 214 2,239,123 4/1941 Sykes 312-214 3,050,207 8/1962 Oxenham 220-69 X 3,209,939 10/1965 Terry et al. 220-94 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner. 

